Mandala for Little Miss M

My celebratory TaDah! Moment

I started making this blanket back in July 2017 when I needed a break from working with the dark colours requested by Master R.

The pattern is Helen Shrimpton’s Mandala Madness with her Spiro Star at the centre.

It is for a single bed so I stopped at Round 88 in Part 14 .

I like the way the edge is shaped at this point, so I created the next few rows to keep that shape.

Edge

Little Miss M likes orange (Spice), so the edging had to be in orange.

I made small popcorns (3dcs instead of 5) at some of the points and the simple edging is 2scs, ch 2 repeat (US terms)

Blocking was done on an old blanket laid on the floor over a carpet.

I smooth the blanket out – take an overhead photo which shows up any lack of symmetry;

adjust;

pin with steel blocking pins right through the carpet;

spray mist the whole thing with water, then using a damp tea towel and the iron on its highest setting I VERY lightly press round the edges only of the blanket, reheating the iron when necessary (it has to be unplugged to reach);

I then lightly pressed the yellow and turquoise pointy bits so that they would lie flatter;

left it in situ over night to thoroughly dry.

Stylecraft SpecialDK and a 4.5mm hook – the blanket mearures 4’8″ across

List of colours (mostly chosen by Little Miss M):

Spiro Star Centre

Fondant, Saffron, Fondant, Cloud Blue, Bluebell, Bright Pink, Spice

Mandala Madness Part 2

Meadow, Turquoise, Fondant,

Part 3

Wisteria, Saffron, Wisteria, Sunshine,

Part 4

Spice

Part 5

Aspen, Pistachio, Cloud Blue, Bluebell

Part 6

Soft Peach, Duck Egg, Fondant

Part 7

Lobelia, Petrol, Bright Pink, Spice, Turquoise,

Part 8 

(My favourite part!)

Bright Pink, Cloud Blue, Saffron, Bright Pink,

Part 9

Meadow, Pistachio, Aspen, Sunshine

Part 10

Bluebell, Soft Peach, Meadow, Fondant, Bluebell, Cloud Blue

Part 11

Bright Pink, Spice, Turquoise, Fondant, Candy Floss, Bluebell

Part 12

Bright Pink, Spice, Saffron, Meadow

Part 13

Turquoise, Spice, Fondant

Part 14 

and Edge

Bluebell, Bright Pink, Petrol, Sunshine, Spice

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I could never have made this without the fabulous video tutorials by Esther at Its All in a Nutshell.

Huge thanks to Esther and Helen.

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Joining in with Ginny’s Yarn Along. She asks us to add a book that we are reading, but I rarely read books nowadays. I do however watch DVDs whilst crocheting or knitting and one I have thoroughly enjoyed recently is this documentary about Gauguin, which gives a fascinating account of his difficult and colourful life

 

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Crochet Oak Leaves and a Finger Puppet

Yarn Along! Yarn along! Tra-la-la-la-la! I love Yarn along!

I love to see all the other things that are being made, book recommendations, and mainly because I just love Ginny’s Blog and seeing what she is getting up to. Her photographs are always superb.

So this month I am making the finishing touches for the Squirrel Nutkin Woodland Blanket.

There will be leaves and squirrels appliqued onto the blanket

The little oak leaves are from Lucy’s Pattern here.

The larger ones are on Charlotta’s blog In the Yarn Garden

Charlotta makes them with 4ply cotton. I made them with the Stylecraft Special DK and they turned out to be monsters!

The one on the left is made with a 4.5mm hook, the middle one with a 4mm hook and the monster on the right is made with a 3 mm hook.

I have felted the two biggest ones. Click  felted to see how I do that.

Here they are compared with Lucy’s oak leaf made with a 4.5mm hook

I’m planning a cascade of leaves in the bottom left-hand corner of the blanket

Not sure how many yet.

Squirrels will scamper all over the blanket and a few leaves and an owl, Old Brown, will be in the top right hand corner.

If you would like to make a Squirrel motif you can find my free pattern with photo tutorial here.

And look!

If you sew two together – you can make a finger puppet! Ta Dah!

~

Ginny adds a book she is reading to her Yarn Along post.

I don’t read much, as it takes up too much crafting time, but I do love to listen to podcasts or music whilst I’m crafting and this is making me so happy right now

 

I’ve been wondering about making these characters in crochet, what do you think?!